Hey friends!
Here is what the second week of my “comeback” training looked like. The plan is still to basically just alternate days of running with days of cross training while slowly adding in a few back-to-back days of running as we go.
Monday –
Plan: 6.0 – 6.5 mile run
Actual: 6.5 mile run (8:40 pace)
I started the week off with a nice 6.5 mile run! I even ventured out off of the street we live on and did part of what I refer to as my “sailboat loop.” It was spring break in our county this week and the traffic was only a fraction of what it is on a normal weekday, which allowed me a bit more flexibility in my route choice and also made for a much more enjoyable run. I didn’t have the heavy or sluggish feeling, so that was a good sign. Things certainly don’t feel entirely normal yet (lots of things feel a bit “loose” if that makes any sense), but they do seem to be getting a little bit better each week. At this point, that’s all I can ask for!
I think the best part about running postpartum vs. running during pregnancy might be the lack of bathroom stops. I noticed that one of the houses on my route that was under construction while I was pregnant (such a blessing!) is now complete. Seeing that reminded me of all the bathroom stops that had to be made previously and also made me feel incredibly grateful that I no longer need those stops! It’s the little things in life.
Tuesday –
Plan: 70 minute elliptical with 10 X 1 minute “on” w/ 1:30 “recovery”
Actual: 70 minutes (12.5 miles)
Tuesday I did a “workout” on the elliptical. My plan called for a 20 minute warm up, 10 X 1:00 “on” with 1:30 recovery and a 20 minute cool down. I was really excited to see this pop up on the schedule, since it is very similar to typical running quality sessions that I have done in the past. I am slowing inching my way ever so slightly back to feeling like my old running self again and that, my friends, feels fabulous!
I broke this one up into chunks and alternated going forward and backward. For the warm up, I did 10 minutes forward and 10 minutes backward. Then for the workout itself, I did 5 of the pickups going forward and 5 going backward. For the cool down, I also did 10 minutes forward and 10 minutes backward. The pickups flew by and the only part that really seemed to drag out was the cool down, as I was really just wanting to have more pickups to do!
My average heart rate for the workout was 160 bpm and my max heart rate was 186 bpm. I feel like this is fairly appropriate for the effort we were trying to get in with this session. Strava gave me a “relative effort” score of 102 and said that this was “a stronger than usual effort.” Why thank you, Mr. Strava! It looks like the only higher relative effort scores that I have on Strava recently are all associated with my elliptical “long run” activities, which also makes sense, especially given the way the score is calculated. According to the Strava, “Relative effort is an analysis of your heart rate data. By tracking your heart rate through your workout and its level relative to your maximum heart rate, we attach a value to show exactly how hard you worked. The more time you spend going full gas and the longer your activity, the higher the score.”
Wednesday –
Plan: 6.0 mile run
Actual: 6.0 mile run (8:55 pace)
Wednesday’s run was a HOT one! I ran at lunchtime, so perhaps this should’ve been somewhat expected, but it was 82°F w/ 94% humidity while I was out there. This is unseasonably warm for lower Alabama! I typically listen to a podcast on my easy runs, but for whatever reason, I decided to run in pure silence with nothing but my own thoughts running around upstairs. It was actually a nice change of pace. The first two miles were a bit of a struggle, but once I got warmed up I settled into a good rhythm. The first two miles were also the hilliest two miles of the route, so that likely contributed as well. The last half of the run actually felt [dare I say it] good. I came back from this run feeling refreshed and not drained. Ahh, yes. I’m starting to remember how to do this!
Thursday –
Plan: 3.0 – 4.0 mile run
Actual: 4.0 mile run (8:35 pace)
Thursday was my first back-to-back running day of the training cycle! Woot. My coach actually had a back-to-back run planned for last week as well, but we scrapped that one after the first run of the week was a bit of a struggle. The first two runs of this week felt good, so we decided proceed [with lots of caution] with two days of running in a row. The second day was a very short run, but a run is a run. Am I right?! While short, the run Thursday actually felt really good … perhaps the best run I’ve had of this training cycle thus far! This was a big step in the comeback and tangible progress in the right direction.
As I was running I started thinking to myself, “When was the last time that I ran two days in a row?” I knew it had been quite a while, but was amazed to later discover that it had been since Thanksgiving of last year (133 days ago)! The two days in a row around Thanksgiving actually included a decent amount of walking as well, so I don’t know if those can officially count as back-to-back days of “running.” I had to go all the way back to the end of October to find two days in a row where the paces actually look like true runs rather than run-walk combos. Either which way, it has been a hot minute. For someone that used to run [basically] 7 days a week for years, pregnancy and the subsequent comeback has been quite humbling. It’s also been really thrilling to see little glimpses of progress and to start to slowly get back to feeling like some version of myself that I actually recognize.
Friday –
Plan: 40 minute elliptical or go for a walk
Actual: 40 minutes (7.0 miles)
Friday was a purely easy session. The reason for this was twofold. One being to recover from the previous days back-to-back runs and the other being to rest up for Saturday’s longer run. Once I got started, I was super thankful that I had a recovery day because I was tired. Nothing was hurting (good news!), but I was not feeling very peppy.
Saturday –
Plan: 8.0 mile run
Actual: 8.0 mile run (8:35 pace)
I got out the door at a decent time Saturday morning for my longest run of the week. Saturday morning is the best time to run from home because the traffic is so much lighter. For whatever reason, my heart rate seemed to be a little bit higher than it has been on other runs lately, but I didn’t feel like I was working any harder. Of course, this could just be a watch fluke.
I only thought to check it after the fact because the performance condition that shows on my watch after the first mile or so was a negative one or “baseline” and every other run I’ve done In the past few weeks has been positive three to four or “good.” According to Garmin, “Performance condition metric is a real-time assessment of your ability to perform compared to your average fitness level. This metric ranges from -20 to +20 with each point representing approximately 1% of the VO2 Max set on your device.” The metric is a function of pace and heart rate.
I didn’t have this same watch (Garmin Forerunner 645) when I was training more seriously, so I’m not really used to seeing this metric on the screen. Pretty sure I’m going to want to turn this off when I start racing again, because I really don’t want to see a performance condition of “poor” show up on my watch on race day during my warm up. That would surely mess with my head!
Sunday –
Plan: 80 – 90 minute elliptical
Actual: 90 minutes (16 miles)
I got in another longer, endurance building elliptical session Sunday morning! I had endorphins for days after this one. Well … actually I just got home from the gym … but I’m assuming I will have endorphins for days. They are REALLY high at the moment!
Totals –
Running: 24.5 miles
Elliptical: 35.5 miles (200 minutes)
Walking: 12.0 miles
All in all, I’d say this was a solid week of training. I did a little bit more of each activity than I did last week, which makes sense as we gradually build back. Hopefully soon enough running will be the dominant activity once again! Thanks for following along with me on the comeback journey!